The Benefits of Electronic Medical Records
Looking to the future
Heart & Health Medical is proud to announce we have fully implemented an electronic medical record (EMR) system throughout all of our locations. Congress has mandated all hospitals and physicians to implement an Electronic Medical Records system by 2014. We recognized the importance of transitioning to EMRs and are way ahead of the Federal mandates.
The advantages of electronic medical records:
As technology becomes an increasingly important part of our lives, medicine is also undergoing an innovative transition. Doctors and hospitals around the world are experiencing the benefits of moving away from paper-based systems. The use of electronic medical records is making medicine safer and more efficient. Here are some additional benefits:
Accessibility
Paper charts can only be in one place at one time, but EMRs are available to authorized personnel at any time, from any location. This means a patient’s medical team can conveniently and quickly coordinate care, especially for complex or emergency cases, even after office hours because EMRs. Also, because information is electronic, it can be shared across town, or across the country.
Real-time records
As soon as items such as test results, doctor’s notes or diagnostic images are input, they are instantly viewable to everyone within the medical team. Unlike paper charts, EMRs can be viewed simultaneously by multiple physicians in differing specialties or different departments within a health care facility. This fosters quality care through increased communications and teamwork.
Security
EMRs are stored within secure databases where they can never be lost or misfiled. For additional protection, tools like data backup ensure files are never destroyed due to fire, disaster or other unforeseeable events. In addition, only authorized users may access files.
Safety
Efficient regulation of medications can improve a patient’s quality of care. Automated medication management systems with formulary and interaction databases provide automatic warnings of potential adverse drug reactions. This helps prevent dangerous and avoidable oversights. When a prescription is written, the EMR system automatically initiates drug-to-drug and drug-to-allergy interaction checks. These checks reduce the risk of improper prescriptions and related issues that can compromise quality of care.
Also, undecipherable handwriting can lead to inaccuracies. Typed information reduces the chances for medical errors. Adopting an EMR system helps standardize chart quality and minimize problems that can occur as a result of inconsistencies in documentation and other common human errors.
Superior exchange of information
EMR systems were developed to interoperate, allowing physicians from different locations or even different countries to access the same patient information. For example, a patient may have given a thorough medical history to his primary physician, but forgotten valuable information when visiting a specialist. An EMR maintains an electronic record of all of past information, including x-rays, medications and doctors’ progress notes. Keeping medical records electronically allows for permanent, accurate and easy to transfer information. There are many companies that offer ems charting software, as it is incredibly useful and efficient in the event of an emergency. When a patient is in need of urgent care, the paramedics will want instant access to their medical records.
Built-in protocols and reminders. Unlike a conventional paper chart, an EMR can provide physicians with important patient information at the time of documentation. For example, diagnosis-specific templates can help remind physicians about special protocols and tests related to the patient’s condition.
Quality
Electronic medical records provide caregivers a more complete picture of a patient’s medical history. When viewed in its entirety, EMRs reduce the amount of information that “falls through the cracks”
Portability
Because EMRs are stored electronically, Heart & Health Medical can conveniently transfer a patient’s information. We can easily store records on a USB drive or a CD. This gives our patients many options when needing to transfer records to another physician.